Romans 5:1-11; Romans 8:18-32
This is the last in a series called “Saved From What?” We’ve been looking at what it means to be saved, and what Jesus saved us from: the guilt of sin, and thus, the fear of wrath and judgment, the condemnation and hell we deserve, the destiny of the wicked and unsaved. Related to this is the fact that we’re saved from the law and the curse of it, so that now, we’re not condemned because of missing the mark, but we’re made righteous by faith in what Christ has done for us. We have been saved from spiritual death as well. God has raised us from the dead! We’ve experienced a spiritual resurrection, and that is just a foretaste of the coming physical resurrection when Jesus returns. We’ve been delivered from the power of the devil, our archenemy, the tyrant who had such power over us. Now we no longer have to serve him. We’re in God’s Kingdom now, not Satan’s. Last week, we saw how we’ve also been saved from the power of sin, we’ve been healed of the sickness and given a solution for the weakness of it. So these are all things we have been saved from. Now let’s look at what we’ve been saved for, i.e., why God saved us, and what it’ll lead to.
To discuss that, we first need to clarify something. We need to understand something about the dimension of time when it comes to our salvation. Just as we all have a past, we live in the present, and we look forward to the future, so there is a past, present, and future aspect to salvation. Let’s consider that for a few minutes.
The past. We were saved. If you’re a Christian, you know there was a time when you “got saved.” For me, that was in January of 1976. That’s when I turned from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18), I repented of my sins, and God broke me free of my bondage to sin and gave me a whole new outlook and power for life. The Bible calls it being born again. My newest grandson was just born on Oct. 24th. He has a birthday, and it was written down and recorded. If you’ve been born again, you should have a spiritual birthday. You may have gotten saved very early in life, and can’t remember the exact day. That’s okay. But it’s not the case that anybody has “always been” a Christian. Nobody is born a Christian! You have to be born again to be a Christian. You have to make that transaction with God, whereby you receive His forgiveness, the new life in Christ, the Spirit of God comes to live in you, and your name is written down in the Book of Life. Various scriptures tell us we were saved: Ro. 8:24, in this hope we were saved, past tense, 1 Cor. 15:2, by this gospel you are saved, Eph. 2:5, 8, by grace we have been saved, 2 Tim. 1:9, God has saved us, Titus 3:5, He saved us, not by our works.
How is it that we are or have already been saved? Well, when an Israelite sinned, he/she was to bring an offering to the priests at the Tabernacle, and when it was sacrificed for them, they could go back to their tents forgiven. In the same way, when we come to God through Christ, and we believe He was sacrificed for us, so we confess our sins and repent of them, and we accept Christ’s sacrifice, we are justified and forgiven by God right then. We don’t have to hope He forgives us, we can know it, because of the promise of His Word. When that “transaction” takes place, our names are written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Forgiveness is ours, eternal life begins right then. Since the Bible says eternal life is a free gift, I like to use the analogy of sending a present to someone and then calling to see if they got it. Can you imagine somebody saying, “Well, I think I got that present”? or “I hope I got it”? Ridiculous! You either got it or you didn’t! You’re either saved, or you’re not! Was that grandson of mine born, or not? Well, I hope so!? I think so!?
Have you received God’s Spirit or not? Have you been born again, or not? If you have, you’ll know it! We who have received Christ have been saved, past tense! We have eternal life in Christ. (1 Jn. 5:11, 12).
But there are other aspects or dimensions to salvation. There is also a present dimension, because I can show you a ton of scriptures that say we’re “being saved”: 1 Cor. 1:18, those of us who are being saved, 1 Cor. 15:2, by the gospel we’ll be saved, if we continue in it…, 2 Cor. 2:15, those who are being saved. I can also show you many other scriptures that teach we’re supposed to be growing into greater spiritual maturity, greater faith, more godly character. Phil. 2:12, 13, work out your salvation. 1 Cor. 3 and Heb. 5, you should be growing. Eph. 4:15 and 1 Pet. 2:2, we should grow up into Him, along with many other scriptures, We’re called to advance in the Christian life! We could call this the process of sanctification, or “saint-ification,” the process by which God is working in us and we’re cooperating with Him, so that we’re set apart and made godly, gradually transformed into what we were meant to be, saints. We’re not to remain perpetual babies! Jesus called disciples to follow Him and learn of Him (Matt. 11:28, 29), and He said a disciple was to become like His master (Matt. 10:25).
Did you know, pastors or elders are to be mature spiritually, but not because they’re super-stars. No, they’re just supposed to be examples, modeling what we’re all called to! Paul told people to imitate him or follow his example as he followed Christ (1 Cor. 4:16; 1 Cor. 11:1). In 1 Cor. 9:24-27, he tells how he disciplined himself in order to attain to God’s calling for his life. It is possible to live a godly life! We’ll never be perfect in this life, but we can reach maturity. We’re not supposed to be perpetual babies! We are in the process of being saved. To me this is encouraging, because I realize I haven’t arrived yet. I still need to be saved day to day.
The reason we need this ongoing process is because we live in a fallen world, and we are fallen creatures. We have to learn how to live a whole new way, to live like Jesus lived. God deliberately doesn’t transform us instantly into angels because He wants us to stay dependent upon Him and learn to let Him work in us. His power is perfected in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Just as the Israelites had to take the Promised Land step by step, so we have to work out our salvation by yielding ourselves to God, so He can possess us more and more. We have been saved, that’s for sure. But we also need to be saved daily. Every day we face new challenges, and need God’s grace to overcome. Every day, we need fresh strength, fresh insight. Every day, we need salvation. We must continue to walk with the Lord throughout this life, being saved day by day. The Orthodox say there’s a difference between the image and the likeness of God. We all were made in His image. But we don’t all do what’s necessary to become conformed to His likeness. That requires our participation!
There is also a future dimension to salvation. We will be saved. Paul said we’re saved by hope, and you don’t hope for something you already see or have! (Ro. 8:22-25) We have been saved, and we’re being saved every day. But someday, we will experience the fullness of our salvation. We need to know what we’re saved from, but also what we’re saved to or for. What’s God’s goal in salvation? What is He calling us to be and do, and what is our future? We weren’t just saved from hell, the devil, God’s wrath, judgment, etc.
What were we saved for? Let’s look again at Ro. 5:1-11 and we’ll see these things more clearly. In this passage, we see past, present, and future, and we see what we’re saved for. Notice the past dimension in Ro. 5:1, 2, 10, 11. But notice something else, the word reconciliation (vs. 10, 11). That’s one of the main things we’re saved for, relationship with God! We were saved so our relationship with God could be restored, and we could have access to Him again (vs. 2). God walked with Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden and had fellowship with them. Through Christ, that fellowship is restored. Jesus said eternal life was knowing God (Jn. 17:3). It’s a relationship, a connection between us and God. The Orthodox say our main goal is union with God.
Heaven and earth were made to glorify God. When God is in the center of things, they come into order, they manifest His glory. God made this universe to reflect His glory, and He fills it all now (Is. 66:1; Jer. 23:24), except for one area, the realm invaded by Satan, the realm of man. This rebel kingdom is the only area God doesn’t inhabit and rule over fully, because the rebels refuse Him and He has allowed that. Salvation is His way of restoring that ruined part of the universe, by bringing His presence and Kingdom into it. The process started when He created Adam and Eve, then continued when He called Abraham and created a people out of His descendants. Then came the Promised Land and Israel. Each was a phase of God’s salvation/restoration.
He really brought heaven and earth together when the Word became flesh in the womb of Mary. God took on flesh, took on a physical body! Heaven came to earth then. And God wants heaven to come to earth in each of us! When we receive Jesus, heaven comes into the earth, and the Kingdom of God begins in us. God becomes our King and begins working and reigning in us. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, let your Kingdom come, your will be done in earth as it is in heaven. God wants to reign in and through us. He also wants to dwell in us. Father, Son, and Spirit have dwelt in a relationship of love for all eternity, and they invite us into that relationship.
Before we were saved, He was not with us, nor we with Him, and He was not within us. But now, 2 Cor. 6:16 promises that He will dwell in us and walk in us. In fact, the Bible says Christ in us is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Eph. 2:19-22 tells us God is bringing all things together in Christ and building us into His dwelling place, the new temple of God! Heaven comes to earth in a measure when a person receives Christ. But in the end, heaven is going to really burst into this dimension and take over the whole universe!
Most Christian think going to heaven is our final destiny or goal. But it’s not! It’s an intermediate step! The final goal is heaven coming down to earth. That’s what we see in Rev. 21:10 as the New Jerusalem comes to earth. The New Jerusalem is the city of God, but vs. 9 says that city is the bride of Christ, and we are that bride! That city is coming to earth, a new heaven and earth. God will be fully manifested, fully here and visible in that day, and vs. 3 says He will dwell with us and we with Him. So the future is greater than we’ve ever imagined! Eye has not seen, nor ear heard all that God has planned for us who love Him! (1 Cor. 2:9) 1 Jn. 3:2 says we don’t yet know what we’ll be, but we do know when we see Him, we’ll be like Him! Glorified!
The future is glorification. New bodies, a completely new existence. New heavens and earth. A new dimension, beyond anything we’ve experienced or known. John saw a glorified saint in Rev. 22:8, 9 (it says angel, but then, as you read on, the “angel” says he’s one of John’s brothers), and fell down to worship him. John was no idolater, but this person was so glorious, he naturally thought he was God! That is our destiny too! Jesus prayed in Jn. 17:24, saying He wanted His disciples to be with Him and see His glory. And Romans 8 says that’s our destiny! We will be fully saved, spirit, soul, and body. We will actually be glorified, and transformed into what God made us ultimately to be. We will be like Him and see Him as He is! Friends, you don’t want to miss that!
Salvation isn’t just a pardon. It isn’t something of the past that gets our ticket punched for heaven. No, it’s forgiveness, but it’s also new and eternal life. It’s reconciliation so we can have access to God and be in relationship with Him now. It’s an on-going process of walking with Him and growing in grace. It’s about us letting Him work through us to touch and change this world here and now. And it will go on expanding into the future, into the new heavens and earth. We are called to join God, join the Holy Trinity in the most wonderful relationship of love in the universe, and we’re called to be part of the most wonderful future imaginable. You and I need our eyes to be opened to see more of what God intends for us. Understanding the future dimension of salvation makes you want to be sure you experience it here and now! Will you agree to God’s plan?